Snowplow



J. WAN DSCHEER Aug. 7, 1945.

SNOW PLOW Filed Feb. 4, i945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. WA NDSCHE ER 'sNow PLOW Filed Feb. 4, 19'45 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 7, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SNOWPLOW. Joseph Wandscl eer, Sioux Center, Iowa Application February 4,1943, Serial No. 474,634

' 7 Claims. (Cl. 37-43) My'invention relates to a snow plow.

An object of my invention is to provide a snow plow with a combination of members so arranged as to cut the snow by means of radially disposed cutting bars of a special shape which will efllciently cut the snow ahead of further other members.-

A further object of my invention is to provide, in combination with said cuttingbars, a helical boring member to transfer the snow rearwardly.

A further object of my invention is to provide va pair of opposed helical conveyors mounted on the plow and transversely across the road bed which will convey the snow inwardly toward the center of the plow, and to provide a reversible fan arrangement which will blow the snow to either side of the roadway as desired.

A further and important object of my invention is to provide a helical conveyor having a spiral flange attached to or integral with the conveyor, which flange includes inwardly directed cutting and conveying edges for more efficiently cutting the snow and directing the same towards the shaft of the conveyor. o

A further objectof my invention is to provide such 'a flange member having a cutting edge either in a complete unit form on the helical conveyor or in detachable sections as desired.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction,.arrangement, and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 1

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation taken substantially along the lines ll of Fig.2,

Figure 2 is a forward elevation of the plow.

Figure 3 is a sectional view takenalong the lines 3--3 of Fig. 1, v

Figure 4 is a section taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Figure 5 is a detail of theauxiliary cutting flange taken substantially along the lines 55 of Fig. 2, l

Figure 6.'is a'modified form of the flangeand Figure 7 is a further modified form showing the integral formation of the flange.

My invention contemplates a snow plow for cutting away snow gathered on a roadway, thence rearwardly conveying the same into suitable means for deflecting the pulverized snow outwardly adjacent to theroadway. My invention also contemplates a special cutting flange attached to certain helical portions of the plow to enhance the cutting and gathering effect of the helical conveyor.

I have used the ch'aracter Hi to designate the hood of a truck or such vehicle upon which the plow is to be mounted, and with the forward wheels of the same indicated by the character I I.

Firmly secured to the forward portions of the vehicle are the braces l 2 which are attached at 13 to the side brackets l4 which brackets are attached to the rear wall l5 of the fan casin of the unit. The forward wall of the same casing is indicated by the character l6 and includes the portion' I1 to which is attached the journal [8, and

a series of four helically pitched blades 22 whichterminate in the forward edges 23 and extend rearwardiy toward the left as viewed from Fig. 2.

Attached to the forward end of the member 2| is the nose 25a, and attached at 24 to eachmember 22 and at the forward edge thereof are the cutting blades 25 which blades are pitched at the same angle from the forward motion as the members 22.

To strengthen the cutting blades 25 I provide the rear ribs 26 which extend substantially the entire distance in order to strengthen the blades along the entire length thereof. All of the blades 25 include arcuate forward cutting edges 21 positioned in the direction of rotation of the blades 25, which direction of rotation is in the direction of the arrow 28. The outer extremities of the blades 25 include a more pronounced arcuate portion 29 to increase the cutting effect and the blades terminate at the points 30.

The forward wall iii of the fan casing merges with the side walls 3| which extends forwardly to the termination at 32, and attached between the side walls 3| is a deflector shield 33 having the side portions 34. Journalled within the bearings 35 which are attached to the side members 3| is a horizontally positioned transverse shaft 36 upon which is mounted the hub portion 31, and secured to the hub shaft 31 are the helical members 38 and 39. The left-hand helical member, as viewed 1 Ward the center. of the opening 40, which opening communicates with the fan housing. The righthand end of the shaft member 31 extends through the side wall 3| and is attached to a suitable sprocket at 4| over which passes the chain drive 42 which engages an upper sprocket 43 which is attached to the horizontal shaft 44 which shaft is journalled in bearings 45 attached to the wall I6. The shaft 44 is attached to a bevel gear 46 which bevel gear 46 meshes with a further bevel gear 41 (see Fig. 1) which is attached to the shaft IS. A casing (see Fig. 2') 48 encloses the chain drive 42. The opening 40 which communicates with the fan housing includes the enlarged portion at 49. Each of the helical conveyors 38 and 39 include formed therewith the partially arcuate cutting flanges 50 which flanges extend at a substantial angle from the plane of the helical conveyors 38 and 39 and which terminate in the sharp edges which members 50 are later described more fully and are shown more clearly in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. It will be noted that these members extend forwardly corresponding to the turning motion of the helical conveyors. f

Enclosing the shaft l9 andmounted concentric thereto is a further hollow cylindrical shaft 52 to which is attached the hub 53 to which are attached the spokes 54 which spokes are attached at 55 to the fan blades 56. The rear end of the shaft I9 is journalled within the casing 51 at 58 and is keyed to the large gear 59, and the forward portion of the hollow shaft 52 is journalled at 60 within the forward portion of the casing 51, and attached to the member 52 is the elongated key 6| upon which is slidably mounted the gear member 62 which gear member includes an annular portion 63 which engages the end '64 of a control rod 65 which rod 65 pa'sses through the Easing 51 and is attached at 66 to the control member 61 which, in turn, passes to the control cab of the vehicle.

A further shaft 68 is journalled at 69 within the casing 51 and is connected by means of the uniindrical in shape, is indicated generally by the character 11.

and 6. For instance, in Fig. 6, as shown, the sections can be separated at a line 92, thereby providing a series of sections which can be bolted about the entire helical periphery 0f the conveyors. As shown in Fig. 6, suitable openings are provided at 93 which receive the flat head screws 94 which passthrough the openings in the flange 95, which flange 95 is substantially similar in all respects to the flange 50 except that it is a separatepiece being attached to the member 39 by means of the nut 96 and includes a shoulder 91 for firm engagement with the helical conveyor.

In this form of structure a portion of the mem- 'ber 95 is behind the conveyor, the direction of travel of the conveyor being indicated by the character 98.

Figure 5 illustrates a further modification, wherein a similar member 95 includes the forward cutting edge 5| an a shoulder 99 with a further portion I90 being snugly engaged against the forward face of the helical conveyor and with the machine screw 94 passing through a suitable opening 93 and being bolted by means of the screw '96 with a counter-sunk opening at [0| receiving the head of the machine screw. It should be speciflcally noted in all of these structures that the 1 cutting edge 5| is positioned forwardly toward the direction of movement of the conveyor, and it will be understood that it can be made either in detached form as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, or in the integral form as shown in Figsi2 and 7.

Now that the structure bf my plow has plained, I shall explain the'operation thereof. As the plow travels forwardly, th cutting blades 25 are always driven in the direction of the arrow 28, and the cutting edges .2| and 29 have a tendency of cutting down the snow ahead of the other members with the pronounced arcuate portions 29 increasing this eflect. The snow is then conveyed rearwardly by means of the helical flaps 22 and over the further helical member 38 and 39 V which convey the snow toward the center of the plow and into the fan casing 11. Since the inwardly turned edges 5| are toward the direction of travel of the helical members, these memberswill tend to efllciently cut out that portion of the snow in the lower corners at I02 of the arrangement and will also materially assist in slicing in- Received between the upper edges of the fan casing are a pair of ide walls 18 having the configuration as shown ubstantially in Fig. 3 through which walls extend the shaft I9 which shaft 19 is attached to a suitable hydraulic or other motor".

80 which is controlled by means of the pipe line 8i from the vehicle, which pipe line will include the oil for operating the motor 80. Attached to the shaft 19 is a deflector plate 82. Also attached to the members 18 are extending ears which ears are received within the channels 83 sothat the members I8 can be slida-bly positioned at any desired point. Also merging with the members 18 is an arcuate plate 84 including an opening at 85,

the rod 81 which includes a piston attached thereto and slid-ably engaged within the cylinder 88 which is pivoted at 89 to the bracket 96 which is attached at 9| to the sides of the casing 11.

The forward cutting flanges 50 which include and attached at 86 to one of the members 18 is wardly asthe snow is conveyed inwardly, thereby providing a positive attack on the snow in the desired direction. Also, since these members are inclined inwardly, they will provide the eflect of inwardly directing the snow with respect to the shaft 31 as well as the center of the fan casin which combined effect will efllciently and uniformlyc'arry the snow in the desired manner toward the center of the fan housing. I

The inclination of the blades 25 willalso assist in the rearwardly conveying action, so that as a composite result, the operation of all of the units will provide the desirable effect of' carrying or conveying practically all of the snow to the desired point in the best manner. The snow can be thrown to either side of the casing or plow as desired by means ofv the reversible arrangement which comprises principally the rod 65, which rod, when forced forwardly, will cause engagement of the gear 62 with the gear 16 which will cause one direction of rotation of the fan blades'55, and to reverse the fan, the rod 65 is drawn rear-- wardly through the agency of the rod 61, which causes the gear 62 to mesh with the gear 14, which gear 14 is constantly meshed with the gear 13. This, as will be seen from Fig. 4 and Fig. v

been exwill reverse the di'rection of rotation of the 'fan blades:

*Correspondin'gto the'direction of 'rotationof the fan blad'es,the members 18 can be forced to the left orth'e right, as ob's erv'ed from'Fig. 3 "by means of a suitable hydraulic control, "to the cylinder 88, which acts'upon the rod 81 to carry the members 18 in either direction which, in turn, causes the opening 85 to be larger toward the left or the right. The hydraulic motor 80 can also be operated then to bring the plate 82 in whichever position is desired corresponding to the upper edges I03 of the members 18 so that the snow will be deflected to either side as desired and corresponding to the direction of rotation of the fan blades, Fig. 3 illustrating how the structure is arranged when th snow is thrown toward the left with the opening 85, however, still being in its central position just before being thrust toward the left. The shaft 44, through the engagement of the bevel gears, insures a uniform and constant drive in one direction of the helical conveyors 38 ,and 39.

, It will now be seen that my invention provides all of the advantages mentioned heretofore in the objects of my invention, as well as other advantages being readily apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalent which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A snow plow comprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched blades attached to said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality of cutting blades attached to and extending outwardly from the forward ends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing, and means for driving said fan and said cutting blades.

2. A snow plow comprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched blades attached to said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality of cutting blades attached to and extending outwardly from the forward ends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing, and means for driving said fan and said cutting blades, said cutting blades including forward cutting edges of pronounced curvature at the ends thereof.

3. A snow plow comprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched blades attached to said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality of cutting blades attached to and extending outwardly from the forward ends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing, means for driving said fan and said cutting blades, said cutting blades including forward cutting edges of pronounced curvature at the ends thereof, and helical conveyors positioned transversely across said plow and positioned directly behind said cutting blades and below said helically pitched blades.

4. A snow plow gomprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched. blades attachedto said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality'of cutting blades'attached to' and extending outwardly from the for wardends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing,

means for driving said fan and'said cutting blades, said cutting blade's including forward cutting edges of pronounced curvature at the ends thereof, and helical conveyors positioned transversely across said plow and positioned directly behind said cutting blades and below said helically pitched blades, said transverse helical conveyors including a pair of oppositely pitched conveyors, said conveyors being pitched to convey snow toward the center of said plow, and said helical conveyors including flanges along the spiral extremities thereof, said flanges including edges directed inwardly toward the center of said plow, and in the conveying direction of said helical conveyors.

5. A snow plow comprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched blades attached to said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality of cutting blades attached to and extending outwardly from the forward ends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing, means for driving said fan and said cutting blades, said cutting blades including forward cutting edges of pronounced curvature at the ends thereof, helical conveyors positioned transversely across said plow and positioned directly behind said cutting blades and below said helically pitched blades, said transverse helical conveyors including a pair of oppositely pitched conveyors, said conveyors being pitched to convey snow toward the center of said plow, and said helical conveyors including flanges along the spiral extremities thereof, said flanges including edges directed inwardly toward the center of said plow,

and in the conveying direction of said helical conveyors, and means for reversing said fan to provide means for throwing snow to either desired side of said snow plow.

6. A snow plow comprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched blades attached to said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality of cutting blades attached to and extending outwardly from the forward ends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing, means for driving said fan and said cutting blades, said cutting blades including forward cutting edges of pronounced curvature at the ends thereof, helical conveyors positioned transversely across said plow and positioned directly behind said cutting blades and below said helically pitched blades, said transverse helical conveyors including a pair of oppositely pitched conveyors, said conveyors being pitched to convey snow toward the center of said plow, and said helical conveyors including flanges along the spiral extremities thereof, said flanges including edges directed inwardly toward the center of said plow, and in the conveying direction of said helical conveyors, means for reversing said fan to pro- Vide means for throwing snow to either desired side of said snow plow, means for driving said transverse helical conveyors including a central shaft to which said transverse helical conveyors are attached, and means drivingly connecting said forwardly positioned shaft and said conveyor shaft to simultaneously rotate the latter.

7. A snow plow comprising a cutting member including a substantially horizontal forwardly extending rotating shaft, a plurality of helically pitched blades attached to said shaft for rotation with the shaft, a plurality of cutting blades attached to and extending outwardly from the forward ends of said helically pitched blades, a fan casing, a fan rotatably mounted in said casing, means for driving said fan and said cutting blades, and helical conveyors positioned transversely across said plow and positioned directly behind said cutting blades and below said helically pitched blades.

JOSEPH WANDSCHEER. 

